Over the past 120 years, “Christianity” has been watered down and completely neutered. Its regenerating power has been destroyed. The “new birth” concept, as described in the Bible, is no longer taught, accepted or lived by the churches, denominations and religions of the world.
Like criminals, those who call themselves “Christian” are not interested in changing their lives, but in avoiding the punishment for their criminal behavior. “Christians” love their sins and are not interested in overcoming them. Therefore, the teachings of Jesus that we must earn our eternal life are no longer taught. Let us review the many ways the Bible teaches us to “earn” our eternal life.
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- If you do well, will you not be accepted? Genesis 4:7
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- Carefully obey the LORD. Exodus 15:26
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- Obey in order to live. Leviticus 18:5
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- Obey His commands. Deuteronomy 7:9
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- Obey the voice of the LORD. Deuteronomy 13:18
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- Obey the commands of the LORD. Judges 3:4
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- Obey that which the LORD commanded. 1 Samuel 13:14
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- Obey what the LORD had commanded. 1 Kings 11:10
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- Obey the voice of the LORD. 2 Kings 18:12
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- Obey all of commands of the LORD. Nehemiah 10:29
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- Obey His commandments. Ecclesiastics 12:13
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- Obey His instruction. Isaiah 42:24
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- Obey the LORD. Jeremiah 26:13
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- Obey His commandments. Daniel 9:4
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- Obey the voice of the LORD. Zechariah 6:15
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- Obey everything that I’ve commanded you. Matthew 28:20
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- Blessed are those who hear God’s word and obey it! Luke 11:28
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- Obey God. Acts 5:29
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- Obey Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
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- Obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. 2 Thessalonians 1:8
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- Obey Him. Hebrews 5:9
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- Obey the royal Law (Ten Commandments). James 2:8
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- Obey the gospel of God. 1 Peter 4:17
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- Work out your salvation. Philippians 2:12
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- Strive to enter in at the strait gate. Luke 13:24
Not one word in all the Bible are we taught to “go to church”. Something is very wrong in Christianity today! So what is the purpose of all this obeying, doing, striving and working? Quite simply, actually, we must work for our eternal life. As Jesus stated, “If you want to get into that life, you must keep the commandments.” Matthew 19:17. Not one place in all the Bible are we told that Jesus gives us our eternal life. He has given us the instructions on how to “earn” our eternal life, but getting our eternal life is on us. He has shown us the way, but we must walk on that way in order to earn what He has offered. He has offered us a “reward” if we are obedient to His Commands. Are you working for your “reward”?
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- Vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness. 1Kings 8:32
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- Your reward. Matthew 5:12
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- They have their reward. Matthew 6:2
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- Reward you. Matthew 6:6
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- A righteous person’s reward. Matthew 10:41
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- Your reward in heaven is great. Luke 6:23
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- Receive a reward. 1 Corinthians 3:8
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- Receive a reward from the Lord. Ephesians 6:8
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- You will receive the inheritance as a reward. Colossians 3:24
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- Great reward for you. Hebrews 10:35
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- Receive your full reward. 2 John 1:8
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- Reward each of you. Revelation 2:23
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- I will bring my rewards with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done. Revelation 22:12
Nowhere in the Bible will you read where Jesus is bringing His “free gift” of salvation. Salvation is earned. Jesus has “gifted” us eternal life by opening up the way. He didn’t have to. But if you are not walking on “that way”, the Ten Commandments, in order to earn your reward of eternal life, you will then receive the other reward you have earned: eternal death.
In sports, the coach is not allowed to play for the athlete. The athlete must do the work. The coach gives the athlete the information by which the athlete is able to accomplish the work needed to do his duty for the team. But the coach can’t do it for him. Jesus is our Coach. Like the coach of a ball club, He can offer us the opportunity to play on the team, but He can’t make us nor is He allowed to play for us. You might say, Jesus offers us the free gift of a “scholarship” (grace) to play on the ball team. However, you have to put forth the work to actually play on the team. Jesus can Coach us, inspire us and give us the information we need to improve our skills, talents and capabilities, but we must put that information to work in our lives in order to accomplish the goal of the team.
As we continue with Paul in Romans, again, keep in mind, Paul is attempting to educate, inspire and coach the new Christians to the fact that religious organizations and independents were not their savior. Belonging to a church would not get you into heaven. Keeping all the church rules and regulations, traditions, rituals, services and ceremonies could never give you eternal life. Paul was coaching new believers to understand that their duty was to listen to, and obey, Jesus their eternal Coach, only. “But those who assemble to worship Him should put away every evil thing. Unless they worship Him in spirit and truth and in the beauty of holiness, their coming together will be of no avail.” PK 50
Remember, Paul is still attempting to explain to new believers why the Messiah had to come, who the Messiah was and what our obligations were to the Messiah. The Jews had taught that the Messiah would come to deliver them physically and politically from their enemies. Paul had to reorient their thinking to the correct understanding that the Messiah was not coming to redeem them physically, but to redeem them spiritually from the legal condemnation of the sentence of death pronounced upon every single sinner.
Romans 8:1 to Romans 8:39
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in union with the Messiah Jesus.
Correct! Paul did not tell them that they were no longer condemned by belonging to a church, an independent or religious organization. For those of us who are now living in “union with the Messiah Jesus” by keeping His commands to stop sinning, be perfect and keep the Ten Commandments to get our eternal life, we are no longer under legal condemnation. Why?
For the Spirit’s law of life in the Messiah Jesus has set me free from the Law of sin and death.
The Ten Commandments, The Word of God, is a “double-edged sword”. On the one side, if you are a law breaker and are living in violation of the Ten Commandments, you are condemned by that Law as a law breaker and your reward will be eternal death. The Ten Commandment Law will cut you to pieces. The temple services, sacrifices, rituals and ceremonies taught that concept to the people under the Old Testament. But in time, they forgot the meaning of the temple and came under condemnation because they were breaking the Ten Commandments in their lives while holding to the services, sacrifices, rituals, traditions and ceremonies to save themselves. However, on the other edge of that sword, if you are living in obedience to the Ten Commandments, then the life of Jesus becomes your own and you are no longer under the condemnation of death. The Ten Commandments is working with you to cut out sins in your life.
The Spirit of God, His life, is a Life of obedience to the Ten Commandments. By living with the Spirit of God inside of us, we live in obedience to the Ten Commandments. As obedient servants to the Ten Commandments we are no longer under the condemnation of the Ten Commandments, as those living in rebellion to it are. Now you can test yourself to see if you have the Spirit of God.
For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did. By sending his own Son in the form of humanity, he condemned sin by being incarnate, so that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not live according to human nature but according to the Spirit.
The “Law”, the Ten Commandments, is powerless to change your life. It simply tells us what is right and what is wrong. A stoplight is powerless to make you stop. All it does is tell you when to stop and when to go. It tells you what is right and what is wrong. Working to push on the brake peddle and stopping is on you. That is how you reach the “righteous requirement of the Law”.
Jesus, in His life, showed us that the Ten Commandments are just, righteous and everlasting. How? By not coming to abolish them, but by fulfilling them in His life. Matthew 5:17. Jesus condemned living in sin. He showed that we could fulfill the Ten Commandments in our lives just as He did in His. As the Spirit of God in His life was able to instruct Jesus to keep Him from sinning by living in obedience to the Ten Commandments, so in our lives. Jesus, as our Coach, instructs us how to stop at the red light. He instructs us how to obey the signal. But it is up to us to put forth the effort to live in obedience to His Coaching. We must step on the brake at the red light and say “NO!” to sin.
As we live in obedience to the Ten Commandments, the Spirit of God will dwell in us to do for us what He did for Jesus, fulfilling the “righteous requirements of the Law” in us. Why? Because, we no longer want to live “according to human nature” that we had before accepting Jesus into our lives. Now we live “according to the Spirit” who keeps the Ten Commandments perfectly. Jesus can’t force us to have the Spirit of God. But if we are willing to live in obedience to the Ten Commandments, then the Spirit of God will come into our lives. “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him . . . so that through them (the knowledge, information Jesus gives us) you may become partakers of the divine nature.” 2 Peter 1:3, 4.
“The knowledge of God as revealed in Christ is the knowledge that all who are saved must have. This is the knowledge that works transformation of character. Received into the life, it will re-create the soul in the image of Christ. This is the knowledge that God invites His children to receive, beside which all else is vanity and nothingness.” AA 475.
“To man, the crowning work of creation, God has given power to understand His requirements, to comprehend the justice and beneficence of His law, and its sacred claims upon him; and of man unswerving obedience is required.” PP 52.
“True faith, which relies wholly upon Christ, will be manifested by obedience to all the requirements of God. From Adam’s day to the present time the great controversy has been concerning obedience to God’s law. In all ages there have been those who claimed a right to the favor of God even while they were disregarding some of His commands. But the Scriptures declare that by works is ‘faith made perfect;’ and that, without the works of obedience, faith ‘is dead.’ James 2:22, 17. He that professes to know God, ‘and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.’” 1 John 2:4. PP 73.
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Paul is just reiterating the fact that we are able to live the perfect, sinless and commandment keeping life because we no longer set our “minds on the things of the flesh” but are now living “according to the Spirit” and set our “minds on the things of the Spirit”. The Spirit “things” are righteous, holy and Ten Commandment keeping. We cannot sin if we keep our minds on “Spirit things”. It is a “mind” thing. As a man thinks, so is he. We become what we dwell upon. Your Coach is giving you information to dwell upon in order to help you perfect your “game plan” for eternal life. Accept it and win, reject it and lose the game.
To focus our minds on the human nature leads to death, but to focus our minds on the Spirit leads to life and peace.
Before a game, the coach tries to instill in his players “focus”. He is attempting to focus their minds on their duties and responsibilities for the task ahead of them. He must help them to direct their minds from the outside world and the distractions it has and to place their minds on the goal in front of them.
Therefore, focus your mind on that which is righteous, perfect, sinless and the Ten Commandments. Get out of your church, get out of the world. In all you do, surround yourself with Commandment keeping people and activities, living the perfect, sinless Commandment keeping life and you will be earning your reward of eternal life.
That is why the mind that focuses on human nature is hostile toward God. It refuses to submit to the authority of God’s Law because it is powerless to do so. Indeed, those who are under the control of human nature cannot please God.
Precisely! If your church is bombarding you with “can’t keep the Ten Commandments”, “saved by grace”, “always be sinners”, “just trust Jesus and He will save you”, then you are focused on the human nature which is “hostile toward God” as you submit to your church, religious organizations and independents. You have let them become your coach instead of submitting “to the authority of God’s Law”. You must submit to Jesus as your Coach and listen only to Him. You have become “powerless” to keep God’s law because your mind has been brainwashed by your religious organizations into thinking you can’t. Since you are “under the control of human nature”, your religious organizations, you “cannot please God”. The end result is death.
If you get out of your religious organizations, and from “under the control of the human nature”, by surrendering to the “control of the Spirit”, then you will have God’s Spirit in you. By putting the Ten Commandments into your life you will have God’s Spirit living in you. The Ten Commandments are the character of the Spirit of God. We are then able to test ourselves to see which spirit we are living under. If you are not living the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life, you do not have the Spirit of God.
And if anyone does not have the Spirit of the Messiah, he does not belong to him.
If you are not living the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life, be assured, you do “not have the Spirit of the Messiah” and do “not belong to Him”. It doesn’t matter how involved you are with religious organizations or claiming the Name.
But if the Messiah is in you, your bodies are dead due to sin, but the spirit is alive due to righteousness.
Even though our bodies will “die” someday because of Adam’s sin, we have the Spirit of God in us which will one day raise us up from the grave “due to righteousness”. The same as with Jesus. The human body He inhabited died, not because of a sin Jesus committed, but because the human body is dead on account of sin. But Jesus rose from the dead because of the Spirit of righteousness that lived in Him. So with us. Get out of your church, your independents, turn off the TV and all the religious programs you are watching and go to Jesus and live in obedience to Him.
And if the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, then the one who raised the Messiah from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive by his Spirit who lives in you.
Exactly! Even though this mortal flesh, this body, shall one day die and be buried, it will be raised again if I am forcing this mortal body to live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping, Spirit filled life as did Jesus.
Consequently, brothers, we are not—with respect to human nature, that is—under an obligation to live according to human nature.
No, we are not! Don’t let your church, your denomination, your religion or any man tell you, you must live “according to human nature”. You don’t have to. God has provided a way of escape. Turn from your sinful, human nature and turn to Jesus to accept His righteous, sinless, perfect and Commandment keeping nature.
For if you live according to human nature, you are going to die, but if by the Spirit you continually put to death the activities of the body, you will live.
There it is. Stop sinning, be perfect and keep the Ten Commandments in order to live. But if you continue listening to your church, denomination, religion, or any independents tell you that you can’t live as Jesus lived, you will die. I can’t make it any plainer. To help you “focus” on the life and instructions that the Spirit of God is giving, you will find them at our website: www.jcpm.com. The Spirit of God dictated and directed the Bible Studies, as He continues to do so.
For all who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children.
If you want to live, you must be led by the Spirit of God that teaches us, through our Coach, to live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life. Therefore, put forth all your energy in obeying your Coach. Jesus and the Spirit of God are Coaching you to go to Their website at www.jcpm.com, and learn how to focus on what you must do for eternal life.
For you have not received a spirit of slavery that leads you into fear again. Instead, you have received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
The coach teaches his ball players to give up their fears of defeat and losing. He instills in them the spirit of optimism that they can overcome and win. Jesus, our Coach, is trying to do the same for us in our spiritual life. He tells us that He has all power to help us defeat our enemy: sin. All we have to do is go out there and meet temptation as Jesus did. Say “No!”. Turn to God and plead for His power and He will send the Spirit of God to imbue you with the ability to turn from sin in your life. Just as athletes, when they get tired and discouraged, turn and look to their coach for inspiration to keep them going.
The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Therefore, we can now test ourselves to see if we actually are “God’s children”. We are not God’s children by going to church or listening to man-made wisdom. We are “God’s children” if God’s Spirit and our spirit align and testify to the fact that we are living as the Spirit commands: sinless, perfect and Commandment keeping.
Now if we are children, we are heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with the Messiah—if, in fact, we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Now that Paul has finished explaining how to become children of God, he explains what lies in store for us in our futures. Saying “No!” to sin and giving up our past human nature for the nature of the Spirit of God will cause suffering in our mortal bodies. Jesus went through great suffering for us by refusing to sin. Anyone who has committed themselves to working out and reducing their weight can understand the “sufferings” a good workout will cause. But the end result is a healthy body. Or, you can sit contented in your own beliefs and dream about accomplishing while you accomplish nothing.
So in our spiritual lives. To regain a healthy, spiritual life in Christ, a perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping character, we will have to work hard and be committed to a new routine that will cause us suffering while we are in this body of death. But in the end, Jesus will raise us up in our new bodies which will match the characters we have worked for in order to live eternally with Him.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.
That is what it all comes down to. Are you willing to suffer during this present time for the glory that “will be revealed to us”? Or is it much easier to just sit in church dreaming and believing that you are going to be saved? Are you being taught that someday Jesus will change your character without any work on your part? “Jesus does not change the character at His coming.” AH 16.
“None need fail of attaining, in his sphere, to perfection of Christian character. By the sacrifice of Christ, provision has been made for the believer to receive all things that pertain to life and godliness. God calls upon us to reach the standard of perfection and places before us the example of Christ’s character. In His humanity, perfected by a life of constant resistance of evil, the Saviour showed that through cooperation with Divinity, human beings may in this life attain to perfection of character. This is God’s assurance to us that we, too, may obtain complete victory.” AA 531.
For the creation is eagerly awaiting the revelation of God’s children, because the creation has become subject to futility, though not by anything it did. The one who subjected it did so in the certainty that the creation itself would also be set free from corrupting bondage in order to share the glorious freedom of God’s children.
“The creation”, this body, is “eagerly awaiting the revelation of God’s children”. That is correct. Someday, our bodies will be re-created as “God’s children” were in the beginning, without death and decay from sin. Now, “the creation has become subject to futility”. Yes it has. No matter what we do or achieve, this human, mortal body is going to die. What “futility”! But it wasn’t “by anything” we did, per se. Adam brought death to all of us. In love to sinners, God “subjected” us to death. It would be torture to live eternally in these broken-down, decaying bodies that are filled with pain, misery and sin. Death is a welcomed relief from our sinful bodies. Yet, we do have the “certainty that the creation itself would also be set free from corrupting bondage”. Yes, we do have that certainty! There will come a day when those of us who have surrendered our lives to Jesus, and live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life, will “share the glorious freedom of God’s children”. We will be raised with new and glorious bodies that will match the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping characters we have developed, and will be forever free from decay and death.
For we know that all the rest of creation has been groaning with the pains of childbirth up to the present time.
All creation “has been groaning” because of sin. Death and destruction, pain and sorrow fills every aspect of creation because of sin. It wasn’t God’s fault. He created everything perfect. Man caused sin. Someday, God will create, not only a new body for us, but a whole new “creation” for us to live in.
However, not only the creation, but we who have the first fruits of the Spirit also groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, the redemption of our bodies.
Yes we do. Accepting Jesus as our Coach, and living in obedience to His commands to stop sinning, be perfect and to keep the Ten Commandments to get our eternal life, is the “first fruits of the Spirit”. There will come a time when we will reap the full fruits of the Spirit when God creates a “new heaven and a new earth . . . He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever. . . I am making everything new”. Revelation 21:1, 4, 5. Again, there will come a time when the “creation” which is now under sin and dying, will match the perfect characters we have been developing.
For we were saved with this hope in mind. Now a hope that can be observed is not really hope, for who hopes for what can be seen? But if we hope for what we do not yet observe, we eagerly wait for it with patience.
As we live in obedience to the teachings of Jesus, we are continually being “saved” by the work of changing our lives. We do this work, this striving, this obedience, because we have “this hope in mind”. We do not see it now. Our bodies are old and decrepit, filled with pain and sorrow and will soon die. Yet, we patiently believe in the hope that some day our mortal bodies will be transformed to be like His immortal body. This mortal body will be transformed to match the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping character that is now living in this mortal, decaying and dying body.
In the same way, the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, since we do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words, and the one who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, for the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to God’s will.
Once we have given our minds to the Lord in obedience to His will, the Spirit of God can do mighty things for us. By living in obedience to the Ten Commandments, the Spirit of God “Himself intercedes for us” in our fight against sin and destructive habits. We may not know how to ask for the right help, but because our mind is focused and in tune with the Spirit of God to live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life, the Spirit who “searches our hearts” will intercede “for the saints according to God’s will”. And what is “God’s will”? Of course, to live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life. It is not God’s will for you to go to church. It is not God’s will for you to sin.
And we know that for those who love God, that is, for those who are called according to his purpose, all things are working together for good.
Who loves God? “Jesus said to His disciples: If you love Me, you will do as I command.” John 14:15. Those of us who love God by living the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life, know that we have been “called according to His purpose”. Why? Because it is “His purpose” that we live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life. Otherwise, He would not have commanded us to live as such. Therefore, as we live “according to His purpose” all things will be “working together for good”. Yes they will. I have experienced this in my life. You can too. Get out of your church, religious organizations and independent ministries and go to Jesus and repent of your hardness of heart and open your Bible and begin living in obedience to everything God commands for your eternal life.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that the Son might be the firstborn among many brothers.
The first thing to understand is, God “knows” everything. He knows who will accept His predestined plan for eternal life. In other words, God set up a plan, a predestined plan, predestined from the creation of the world, that would allow sinful, wicked people to change and be “conformed to the image of His Son”. I call that plan, “The Plan of Salvation”. Jesus knew in advance those who would accept that plan and who would not accept that plan. It is all written down in a book in Heaven, even from the creation. Not that God “predestined” each of us in our own lives, no, He “predestined” the plan for anyone who would accept it. He “predestined” all to be saved. However, because of the free choice God has given each of us, few are accepting the calling to be saved. For those who have accepted the calling to His predestined plan of salvation, they will be conformed to the image of His Son. They will live as Jesus lived, perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping. That is the predestined plan of salvation. Jesus is to be “firstborn” in our hearts.
And those whom he predestined, he also called; and those whom he called, he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Jesus has called everyone to comply with His predestined plan of salvation. If we comply by repenting of our sinful ways, confessing our sins and turning away from them to live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life, He will justify us. That means, He will take the penalty of our required and legal death sentence upon Himself. Then, as we live in obedience to the Ten Commandments, (sanctification) He will glorify us in the end.
What, then, can we say about all of this? If God is for us, who can be against us?
The devil is against us. All the wicked are against us. The religious organizations are against us. They do not want you to prove them wrong by living the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life. They claim it can’t be done. However, “If God is for us”, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. We can live as Jesus lived.
The one who did not spare his own Son, but offered him as a sacrifice for all of us, surely will give us all things, along with his Son, won’t he?
The devil and the wicked may point fingers at us, accusing us before God as deserving of death, just as they are. However, if we confess, repent and turn from our wickedness and live the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life, Jesus will “give us all things” needful to overcome and live victorious over the beast and his power. Overcomers of sin are the only ones going to Heaven.
> To him that overcometh. Revelation 2:7
> He that overcometh. Revelation 2:11
> To him that overcometh. Revelation 2:17
> He that overcometh, and he that keepeth My works (Ten Commandments). Revelation 2:26
> He that overcometh. Revelation 3:5
> He that overcometh. Revelation 3:12
> He that overcometh. Revelation 3:21
> He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son. Revelation 21:7
> Therefore, to be a “son” of God, or to be a “child of God” or to be “children of God” we must overcome sin by living the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life.
> Who will accuse God’s elect? It is God who justifies!
Those who have elected to live in accordance with God’s predestined plan of salvation will be justified by God. We no longer have to worry about the sentence of death for our past sins. If we commit to living as Jesus did, He will no longer see our past sins, but will justify us and see us as perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping. Then, after we have been justified, we are to continue in sanctification by continuing to live as Jesus now sees us: perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping.
Who is the one to condemn? It is the Messiah Jesus who is interceding on our behalf. He died, and more importantly, has been raised and is seated at the right hand of God.
You see, God, in the beginning before sin, condemned sin. He condemned all law breakers to be destroyed. That is the law of His government. He can’t change that. Lucifer is working very hard to try and get God to change that condemnation. Since all have sinned, all must die. Unless, that is, a way of escape is provided. Jesus provided that way of escape (grace) by giving His life to pay the penalty for our required death. However, His life can only pay the penalty for those who choose to stop sinning, be perfect and to live in obedience to the Ten Commandments for the rest of their lives (sanctification). Otherwise, if “we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins”. Hebrews 10:26. Therefore, the Father who commands that all sinners be destroyed is looking at His Son as the Intercessor on behalf of sinners who have surrendered their lives to His predestined plan of salvation. But He can’t save one sinner who refuses to live in obedience to His predestined plan of salvation.
Who will separate us from the Messiah’s love? Can trouble, distress, persecution, hunger, nakedness, danger, or a violent death do this?
Because Jesus loved us so much in giving His life as a sacrifice for our past sins, nothing can separate us from Him, except our own free will. He can’t force us to accept His predestined plan of salvation, He can only invite us to accept it, just as a coach can invite a ball player to join his team. But if we refuse, then we have separated ourselves from His plan and there is nothing He can do for our eternal life. Jesus can’t save one person who refuses to live by the predestined plan.
As it is written, “For your sake we are being put to death all day long. We are thought of as sheep headed for slaughter.” In all these things we are triumphantly victorious due to the one who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.
Again and again and again I stress that the New Testament is simply a commentary on the Old Testament. Nothing is new. Paul in the above texts is taking the reader back to the Old Testament to illustrate how Jesus and the Old Testament are one and the same. Nothing has changed. “For your sake we are being killed all day long. We are thought of as sheep to be slaughtered.” Psalm 44:22. He is trying to get the people to go back to the Old Testament to learn how loving God is and wants to save them. We need to do the same. We must get out of our churches, our religions, our denominations, our independent ministries and return to the Old Testament for our salvation. “The Holy Scriptures (Old Testament) that are able to give you the wisdom you need for salvation through faith in the Messiah Jesus. All Scripture (Old Testament) is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good action.” 2 Timothy 3:15-17.
If we live the predestined life according to the plan of salvation in the Old Testament, confessing our sins, repenting of our sins and turning away from our sins, living the perfect, sinless and Commandment keeping life, then I “am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor anything above, nor anything below, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God that is ours in union with the Messiah Jesus, our Lord.”
On the other hand, if we do not conform to His predestined plan, we will have separated ourselves from the Messiah Jesus, and will be burned up and destroyed for eternity. Your choice.